WHO Definition of Elderly老年人的定义.doc

Morbidity profile of elderly attended / admitted in Jeddah health facilities, Saudi Arabia Ibrahim NK, Ghabrah TM, Qadi M Department of Family and Community Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Abstract: A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine morbidity profile and predictors of increased number of morbidities among 2264 elderly attended / admitted in Jeddah health facilities. Results: About one-fourth of elderly reported poor self-perceived health, 37.3 % were dependent on others in their activities and 32.1 % utilized 3 drugs/ day. Diminished vision was the commonest complaint while the most prevalent diseases were diabetes mellitus, arthritis and hypertension. The number of morbidities ranged from 1-6 with a mean of 2.11 ± 1.16. In multivariate analysis, the predictors of increased morbidities were obesity (OR= 1.83; 95 % CI= 1.37-2.44), feeling depressed (OR= 1.64; 95 % CI= 1.26-2.13), advanced age, stop working and female gender. It is recommended that there is a great need for increasing elderly medical and social care. INTRODUCTION In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of older persons worldwide (1) and more old people are alive nowadays than at any time in history. (2) The proportion of the population aged 60 and over, is also growing each year. By the year 2025, the world will host 1.2 billion people aged 60 and over and rising to 1.9 billion in 2050. (3) The same trend is also predicted in the EMR; while the proportion of the elderly population to total population was 5.8 % in 2000 it expected to reach 8.7 % by year 2025 and 15.0 % by 2050.(4) The demographic transition with ageing of the population is a global phenomenon which demands international, national, regional and local action. (4,5) In recent years there has been an increasing international awareness of health issues relating to aging populations.(6) . Traditional perceptions of old age have been challenged dur